Flickering Candlelight
by Mika Minx
Summary: She sat by the window every night waiting for him. But it had been 5 years and he hadn't come home. *Two-Part Kataang One-Shot*- one story from two different perspectives. Please R
1. Candlelight

Breathing in the cold South Pole air calmed her nerves. She could see the darkened sky outside, not light but not entirely black. A smile spread across the nineteen-year-old waterbender's lips as she set out five candles by the window, one for each year he'd been gone. She would wait for him, with a numbed hope that the light would lead him home.

She lit the candles one by one, remembering the morning that he left. It was the morning after the battle that changed the fate of the world. She had awoken at noon, along with the others. She had been exhausted. When the sun had finally forced her eyes open, she found that Appa and Momo were gone, and so was the man she loved. All that remained of all of them was a note placed next to her things.

_Dear Katara,_

_I hope you had a good night's sleep. Everyone was out cold last night when I left. Roku came to me in a dream that said I need to go help rebuild peace in this world. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but it's going to be a long and dangerous journey and I don't want to risk anything. I promise I'll be back someday._

_Aang_

That morning she had gone off and tried to find him, alone. The others told her that she should wait for him to return, but she hadn't listened. She had to find him. She searched for two years, but never made it very far. The day of her sixteenth birthday Sokka and the others found her and brought her home to the South Pole. After her brother married, everyone from her home pressured her, saying that now that the war was over there were plenty young men in the South Pole for her to choose from. But she didn't want them. There was only one person in the world she wanted, and he was the only one who wasn't there.

Pulling up a chair, she stared out the window at the sea. With every breath, the flames flickered, as if struggling to remain on the candles. She wondered where he was, if he was thinking about her, if he even remembered her. He'd probably forgotten her by now, gone off to the village where Meng lived and married her. She was closer to his age, anyway.

The wax dripped down the sides of the candles, and Katara had to look away. It was too symbolic of their love slipping away. She had to control herself. She couldn't give in to what everyone was saying, trying to control her. She was faithful. She would wait for him, even if she had to wait forever…

She clutched the letter in her hand. It crumpled between her fingers, and some of the ink rubbed onto her palm. She put the paper on the floor and looked at her hand. She wouldn't get up to wash it off. She had to stay where she was, in case he came. Her family thought she was losing it. They threatened to take her away— away to somewhere she'd never been, to somewhere where there would be no memories of him.

Slowly, she focused on one drop of wax slowly falling down onto the ice. She tried to shift it, just the slightest bit, but it refused to follow her command and fell onto her foot. Ever since he left, she hadn't even had the will to waterbend. It brought back too many memories. Everything did. The only thing she did was stare out that single window, alone in the daytime, and with candles in the nighttime.

A single tear rolled down the girl's face. She began to blow out the candles, one by one, because the sun was rising. And he still wasn't home.


	2. Torchlight

The seventeen-year-old boy looked out of the window at the Northern Air Temple. He didn't know how long he'd been gone, but he knew it was longer than expected. Shivering, he pulled a blanket around his shoulders and looked up at the clouds. Looking at them always reminded him of her, the one he had left.

Nights were always the hardest. He knew that his waterbending was the strongest then, and so was hers. Also, during the day everything was full of life. The animals were awake, villagers were going about their business, children were playing, etc. But at night, everyone was asleep- except Aang. He hadn't properly slept in years. He didn't even remember the last time he had slept the entire night.

Momo, now an old and lazy lemur (not frisky and young like he used to be), was curled up at Aang's feet. Appa was a little ways away, snoring loudly enough to possibly take the avatar's mind off of the world he left. Sighing, he brushed some black hair out of his face. He hadn't cut it in a while, and his hair grew fast. He hadn't really done anything in a while. He had finished up helping the world with his avatar ways a little while ago, but he was always held up because there was some village that needed help, some lost traveler dying of hunger, some trapped animal begging to be set free. They never realized that he was trying to go home, trying to find her.

Looking away from the sky just a moment gave the clouds time to cover up the moon, thus making it so that Aang couldn't see. He lit a torch nearby without getting up, letting the golden orange glow soothe his troubled mind. Screwing his eyes shut, he saw a flash of orange light from beneath his eyelids… and her falling to the ground. It was the first time he'd firebended. He buried his head in his hands. Why did everything remind him of her? He felt a small wet nose on his foot and opened his eyes to see that Momo had woken up. A small glint in the lemur's eyes showed that he was hungry. Aang smiled and pulled some berries out of his sack.

Looking up, he watched the flame dance in the darkness, casting shadows across the stone walls. He sighed again, wondering about her. He tried not to, but he couldn't help thinking that she had moved on. After all, it had been five years. She was nineteen now. She'd probably gone off and gotten married to a man her age. He imagined that she had thrown away his letter long ago, where he still remembered the exact words he wrote. He had wanted so desperately to tell her goodbye, but he knew that his whole team would want to go with him, and he couldn't withhold their futures from them.

And though it pained him to think it, he actually hoped that she had moved on. He couldn't imagine what he'd find if he did come across her one day. He knew he'd have to go back to the South Pole someday. He was the avatar, after all. He had avoided the Fire Nation and all of the remote places in the Earth Kingdom, as well as the South Pole, in case he ran into one or more of his old friends. Groaning, the teen lay down on the cold floor and closed his eyes. However, the cold was too much for him to fall asleep and he sat up again. The torch was fading now, but at the same time going strong. He looked back up at the moon that was now no longer covered by clouds. In fact, the sky was clear now.

Appa opened his giant eyes and yawned, looking over at Aang. Smiling weakly at his bison, Aang yawned. He looked out at the sky. The torchlight was diminishing now, but it didn't matter. A single tear rolled down his face, because the sun was rising. And he still wasn't home.


End file.
